Einstein has been a challenge for atheists who cannot accept that such a
"modern" genius would believe in a Creator. Some have resorted to his
statement that he believed in "Spinoza's God" to neutralize that
possibility. In fact some have stated that Einstein only believed in
"nature," or that Einstein used the term "God" as a "metaphor" rather than a
reality.

By
believing in Spinoza's God, Einstein is clearly refuting the idea of a
"personal" God, in the Judeo-Christian tradition. He, consequently, did
not embrace the belief that the Creator sits on a throne in Heaven having
a body and human-like features, nor did he believe that God had any reward
or punishment in store for humans. Yet he did believe in a conscious,
powerful, intelligent, good Being who manifests His greatness within His
creation. Understanding this great Being, he stated, was the driving
force behind his scientific search.

Therefore, the reader is asked to judge for himself or herself by reading
the quotes offered below. They should be sufficient in helping the reader to
reach his or her own conclusion.

"I believe in Spinoza's God, who reveals
Himself in the harmony of all being, not in a God who concerns Himself with the fate of
actions of men." (Schilpp, 1969, 526)

"I
believe in ... God, who reveals Himself in the harmony of all being"(Schilpp, 1969, 103).

"You believe in God playing dice,
and I in perfect laws in the world of things existing as real objects, which
I try to grasp in a wildly speculative way"(Ibid., 1969, 176)

"Idefend the Good God against the idea of a continuous game of
dice" (Speziali, 1972,
425).

"I'm not much with people, and I'm not a family man. I want my peace. I want
to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that
phenomena in the spectrum of this or that element. I
want toknow His thoughtsthe rest
are details"
(Clarck,1971,18, 19).

"The
scientist's
religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of
natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that,
compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is
an utterly insignificant reflection"(Iain, 1982, 57).